Textile containers



Dec. 26, 1967 w H, POISSON ETAL 3,360,014

' TEXTILE CONTAINERS Filed July 28, 1965 FIG]. k 56 4% WILLIAM H. POISSON INVENTORS:

,NISHAN I B. BOGOSIAN V AGENT be filled, be predisposed in a definite at one side United States Patent 3,360,014 TEXTILE CONTAINERS William Henri Poisson, Stamford, and Nishan Bey Bogosian, Little Silver, Conn., assignors to Allied Chemical Corporation, New York, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed July 28, 1965, Ser. No. 475,403 4 Claims. (Cl. 139-389) This invention relates to woven segmented textile articles, and to the production therefrom of novel textile containers such as sacks and bags.

In the production of strong fabric bags or sacks useful as sand bags or for the packaging of other particulate solid matter, it is generally found that any seams necessary in the construction of the sack represent potential sites of weakness in the bag structure and contribute significantly to its cost. The necessity for forming a seam in even one complete side is disadvantageous. It is generally preferable that no seaming be required except for the minimum opening required for the filling of the bag; said minimum opening generally being less than 50% of the smallest side.

It has been disclosed in US. Patent 2,208,256 to Goldsmith, issued July 16, 1940, entitled, Method of Making Pockets, that flat woven pocket structures can be made in a manner whereby two adjacent fabrics are interwoven at spaced vertical and horizontal portions as integral single thickness fabric so that, by selective severing manipulations, pockets may be obtained which are closed on three sides by margins of continuously interwoven fabric. The fourth side is either completely open, or partially closed by regions of interwoven fabric which define a mouth or opening extending only partially across that side of the pocket. However, in order to make a pocket which is only partially closed on one side, it has been found necessary to first provide a tubular article enclosed on all four sides by interwoven layers of material, then remove a portion of the margin of one side by cutting into the body of the pocket, thereby destroying the rectilinear boundary configuration and necessitating an additional process step for producing the pocket. The pocket, moreover, cannot be utilized readily in sack construction since the mouth is either concave and extends about 50% of the length of the pocket or coextensive with a side of the pocket and, hence, cannot be sealed readily in a seaming operation after the pocket is filled. The pocket structure having a mouth of 5 0% the length thereof is unsuitable for use as a sack since contents of the sack cannot be readily poured therefrom with desired pour control particularly in the case of free-flowing contents, e.g. grain, fertilizer, etc.

In any mass production textile cutting and/or seaming operations, it is preferable to operate in longitudinal or lateral rectilinear directions on the fabric. For example, cutting and sealing mechanisms are generally mounted on means for traversing the fabric in the filling or weft direction, or mounted in stationary position for continuous action on the fabric in the warp direction.

To expedite the handling of textile sacks in the filling operation and to make such operation amenable to automatedmethods, it is desirable that the sacks, after shipmeat from the textile mill to the place where they are to orientation or pattern, with respect to one another.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a seamless fiat rectilinear textile container having thereof a mouth opening of less than 50% of the length of said side and scalable by a linear seam.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a segmentable woven article from which by suitable linear severance a multitude of oriented fiat seamless textile containers can be obtained which containers can be sealed after filling readily.

' It is still another object of the present invention to provide strong woven sack structures eminently suited for use as sand bags.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description and the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a plan view of a segmentable woven article of this invention which can provide a plurality of textile sacks of equal size.

FIGURE 2 is a sectional elevation taken along lines 2-2 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a plan view of a segmentable woven article of this invention for the production of a plurality of sacks of textile material having portions 24 located in a corner of each sack which, when the article is segmented, provide the sack with a mouth.

FIGURE 4 is a perspective view of an individual sack provided by selective severing of the fabric of the present invention.

This invention contemplates a textile article comprising tubular fabric portions alternately separated along the warp direction by:

(a) Strips parallel to the weft direction, said strips consisting of single-layer fabric formed by bringing together and combining in pairs every front Warp end with a matching back warp end of the tubular fabric portion and weaving the resultant pair of ends as one; and

(b) Composite strips parallel to the weft direction, each of said composite strips comprising at least one singlelayer fabric portion and one double-layer fabric portion, said double-layer fabric portion providing communication between adjacent tubular fabric portions.

According to this invention there is provided a textile article so that when severed along the lines E, F, G, H, and C, D, as indicated in FIGURE 3 of the drawings and as further described below, there is formed sack bottoms adjacent one another and sack tops adjacent one another.

Referring to the drawings in which like numerals represent like parts, FIGURE 1 shows a portion of a continuous segmentable textile article consisting of body regions 2 and 2a of endless textile material in the filling or Weft direction which regions appear flattened in the drawings but define a tubular fabric, bottom regions 3 of double thickness comprising bottoms 4 and 4a where the tubular fabric has been interwoven so as to form one single-layer fabric, and top region 5 of tops 6 and 6a wherein the tubular fabric is woven into alternate singleand double-layers along the weft direction so as to form a composite strip which defines a mouth 12 which communicates between upper body region 2 and lower body region 2a. In practice, individual fabric sacks are obtained from this textile structure by severing the fabric structure along straight lines indicated as A and B respectively thereby severing in half top regions 5 and bottom regions 3. The portions severed in regions 3 constitute the bottoms 4 and 4a of the newly formed sacks, and the portions severed in regions 5 constitute the tops 6 and 6a of the sacks containing the mouth 12 which is smaller in its extension than the overall width of the sack. Severing can be accomplished by cutting with a knife or scissors. To prevent ravelling, severance can be accomplished with pinking shears, or with heated wires in the case of fabrics of synthetic thermoplastic fiber. When using heated wire severing means however, care must be taken to avoid sealing the mouth 12 of the bag.

The textile structure of FIGURE 1, prior to the severance of individual bags therefrom constitutes a valuable article of commerce since it can be shipped by a manufacturer in roll form or packages otherwise found suitable for fabrics and utilized in this convenient form by the purchaser by the removal of sacks in oriented manner merely by severing the structure at the appropriate locations A and B.

The textile article of this invention can be a strip of fabric from which two or more bags can be formed with tubular body sections separated by a composite strip with the double-layer fabric portion providing a passage through said composite strip. When the fabric is severed,

the composite strip forms the tops of two bags, each having a central opening. The fabric also has on the other side of the tubular portion a strip consisting of singlelayer fabric providing a double cloth to be cut in half across the strip forming a closed bottom for each bag so formed. Hence, the article can have the composite strips and strips consisting of single-layer fabric arranged as shown in FIGURE 1. Also contemplated is a textile article whereby the adjoining bags face all in the same direction and the tubular portions of successive bags are separated by a composite strip and a strip consisting of single-layer fabric adjacent to one another in the warp direction. In the latter instance, it is desired that the mid-top openings provided by the composite strip be half the length in the warp direction of the total length of the composite strip. When cut in half across the fabric, the top of one bag and the bottom of the next are formed.

Bags are preferably woven using a weave pattern which restrains ripping such as a rip-stop weave. A suitable ripstop weave for the tubular portion is one having two doubles (under two and over two) in the warp direction every 26 ends plus 22 single yarns and two doubles in the weft direction (over two and under two) every 26 picks plus 22 single yarns per pattern repeat. The weave pattern used in the tubular portion is essentially a plain weave with the exception of the two doubles periodically in the warp and weft direction. The term doubles as ern ployed herein means that two ends or picks are woven as a single end or pick. Single-layer fabric portions can be formed by combining in pairs every front end with the matching back end of the tubular fabric and weaving the resultant pair of ends as one. In the double thick closed :singledayer fabric portions, a plain (under and over) =weave is used throughout the warp; and in the weft the weave is the same as in the body, i.e. plain weave with two doubles (under two and over two) inserted periodically. The weaving of the textile article can be accomplished by use of a loom having eight front harnesses and eight back harnesses cooperating to weave tubular fabric in the body and in the central opening of the bag. When the article is severed into bags the top is flat with an opening into the middle leading into the bag. The final closing of the bag when filled is considerably facilitated since the opening is quickly and easily pulled closed and fiat by a pull on the two top corners even when the bag is full and can then be easily heat sealed or sewn shut. The construction can readily be made in continuous fabric on conventional weaving equipment.

FIGURE 3 illustrates a segmentable fabric structure of the present invention having double-layer body regions 13 and 13a wherein individual sacks are formed by severance in the weft single-layer regions 14 and 16 along lines E, F, G, H similar to those described with respect to FIGURE 1, and additionally severing the structure along lines C and D, within the warp single-layer regions 18. The portions severed in regions 13 will then constitute the sides 20 and Zita of individual sacks thus formed. The segmented structure of FIGURE 3 provides individual sacks having the mouth 24 in Corner of the sack, thus facilitating the pouring of materials from the sack in cases where such is desired. Thus, the textile article shown in FIGURE 3 has tubular portions separated along the warp direction by strips consisting of single-layer fabric in the weft direction and composite strips in the weft direction, the portions being separated by a tubular portion. Additionally, the textile article of FIGURE 3 has strips consisting of single-layer fabric spaced at intervals in the weft direction. These latter strips lie on either side of the tubular portion.

FIGURE 4 depicts a seamless sack of the present in vention derived from the segmented article of FIGURE 1. The sack is enclosed at the bottom thereof by a margin of single-layer fabric. The top of the sack is only partially enclosed by single-layer fabric portions whereby an opening or mouth portion is provided.

The fabrics of this invention can be produced on Jacquard looms, dobby looms, or shuttleless looms employing upper and lower fabric sheds. The term shed as employed herein denotes a separated group of warp elements. Weaves such as plain, satin, twill, herring-bone twill, or crepe may be employed. The preferred weave is a plain weave which. at regularly spaced intervals has two warp ends working as one end and two weft picks per shed. This preferred weave affords protection against long rips or tears in the sack. The regions at which the struc ture is interwoven to form a single-layer fabric of double thickness are formed by bringing together into a different shed the warp ends and weft picks employed in weaving the body region of the sack and interweaving the total of the warp and weft yarns (normally separated) to form an integral fabric. At the regions of consolidation i.e. single-layer double fabric thickness, the numbers of warp ends and weft picks per inch are at least double the warp ends and weft pick of the tubular fabric of body regions 2 and 2a. The regions of consolidation can contain colored threads, dyes or other visible indicia to guide the severing operation.

The yarns employed in the manufacture of the textile structures of this invention can be of synthetic or natural origins. Continuous filament synthetic yarns are found preferable in view of their strength, resistance to insecti cidal and microbial damage, and amenability to heat sealing. For use as sand bags, the tubular fabric body portion should preferably have a trapezoidal tearing strength (across the warp) of at least 190 pounds, and a 1" grab strength (warp direction) of at least 450 pounds.

When used as sand bags, the sacks of the present invention should have a mouth portion less than 50% of the width of the sack to enable readily emptying the sack when filled with free flowing material e.g. sand. The ratio of the length to width of the body portion of the sack should be between 1.4 and 2.2 to facilitate good handling and adaptability to stacking. The sacks are preferably filled only to capacity with sand in order to impart plasticity to the filled bag. Using the aforesaid dimensions and filling conditions the filled sand bag constitutes essentially a plastic boulder useful as a constructional component in permanent engineering installations such as dams, dykes, levees, bulkheads, jetties, groins, piers, docks, breakwaters, etc. Preferred sand bags will have dimensions such that the ratio of fabric surface to bag volume (when filled) is between 2.3 and 2.6 A sack which will contain about 80 pounds of moist sand, which is the maximum weight generally agreed upon as feasible for handling by manpower alone, will preferably have a width of about 14.2 inches and a length of about 28.2 inches. Larger bags, weighing thousands of pounds when properly filled, when constructed in accordance with these preferred dimensions, have sufficient strength and plasticity to be properly handled by heavy equipment.

After the sack is filled, the mouth portion can be sealed by conventional means such as sewing, heat sealing, pinning, clamping, stapling, adhesives, etc.

The following specific example is offered merely for the purpose of illustration and is not to be considered as limiting the scope of the invention.

Example 1 A textile structure having the pattern shown in FIG- URE 1 was woven on a Crompton and Knowles loom, employing eight harness shafts to provide two separate fabrics for the body regions 2 and 2a having a double plain weave, a warp count of 34 ends per inch and a weft count of 30 picks per inch. The yarn employed for the warp and weft is continuous filament Caprolan nylon 6 of 840 denier, 136 filaments. Bottom regions 3 were 1% inches wide, and top regions 5 were 1%. inches wide. In the center of each top region was a 6 /3 inch zone or mouth 12 wherein the structure exists as two separated fabrics, forming a mouth 12 which communicates With the body regions 2 and 2a. In all regions wherein the tubular structure is closed off, yarns from opposite sides of the body region are paired and woven as a double yarn. In these double yarn regions the warp count is 68 ends per inch and the weft count is 66 picks per inch.

The partitioned tubular fabric thus produced, woven as a continuous roll of fabric, was converted into sacks by cutting in a straight line with pinking shears midway within top and bottom regions of double fabric thickness. The resultant sacks were rectangular, the outer edges of all four sides being essentially straight lines. The width and length of body sections 2 and 2a were 59 inches and 88 /2 inches respectively, providing a ratio of length to width of 1.5. The ratio of fabric surface to bag volume (100%) was 2.35. When filled 80% with moist sand, the bag weighed 3,700 lbs., and was strong enough to be lifted by a crane and dropped into place. After filling, the mouth of the bag was seamed by sewing between the regions of single-layer fabric which constitute the incomplete upper margin of the sack; laterally of the bag, along mouth 12, to form a flat closure.

The container construction of this invention permits the fabrication of sand bag containers of relatively great size. These achieve cost savings in view of the low container costs per unit weight of sand, reduced labor costs, and reduced time required in utilizing the bags in a given construction. Although the containers of this invention have been exemplified primarily in terms of their use as sand bags for which they are eminently suited, the containers are also useful in the packaging of other granular solid material such as coffee, food grains, mineral products, chemical products, seeds, and the like. The containers provided by the container construction when segmented can be readily seamed in a seaming operation and the container is not subject to as many weak spots in its construction as conventional textile containers.

The terms and expressions which have been employed are used as terms of description and not of limitation, and there is no intention, in the use of such terms and expressions, of excluding any equivalents of the features shown and described or portions thereof, but it is recognized that various modifications are possible within the scope of the invention claimed.

We claim:

1. A textile article comprising tubular fabric portions alternately separated along the warp direction by:

(a) strips parallel to the weft direction, said strips consisting of single-layer fabric formed by bringing together and combining in pairs every front warp end with a matching back warp end of the tubular fabric portion and weaving the resultant pair of ends as one; and

(b) composite strips parallel to the weft direction, each of said composite strips comprising at least two single-layer fabric portions and one double-layer fabric portion, said (a) strips and said (b) strips being so disposed that the ratio of the length along the warp of each tubular fabric portion to the width along the weft of said portion is between 1.4 and 2.2, and the ratio of the rectilinear surface of any tubular fabric portion to the containable volume thereof is between 2.3 and 2.6 reciprocal feet; and each said strip (a) and (b) spans the weft of each tubular fabric portion, each composite strip consisting of at least one composite segment spanning the weft of one said tubular fabric portion, each such segment of a composite strip consisting of one single layer fabric portion at each end thereof and one double-layer fabric portion centrally thereof forming upon severance along such strips a sack with a mouth at the center of a narrower edge or top of the sack; said fabric being woven from continuous filament synthetic yarn and having a trapzeoidal tear strength across the warp direction of at least 190 pounds and a one-inch grab strength in the warp direction of at least 450 pounds; each such tubular fabric portion of said article having capacity for at least pounds of moist sand.

2. A textile article according to claim 1 wherein the warp and weft count on the single-layer fabric constituting the strips separating the tubular fabric portions are at least double the warp and weft count of said tubular fabric portions.

3. A textile article of claim 1 comprising quadrilateral areas of double-layer fabric, said quadrilateral areas of double-layer fabric being separated along the warp direction by:

(a) strips parallel to the Weft direction, said strips consisting of single-layer fabric formed by bringing together and combining in pairs every front warp end with a matching back warp end of the tubular fabric portion and weaving the resultant pair of ends as one; and

(b) composite strips parallel to the weft direction, each of said composite strips comprising, between any two consecutive strips of single-layer fabric parallel to the Warp direction, at least one singlelayer fabric portion and one double-layer fabric portion, said double-layer fabric portion providing communication between adjacent quadrilateral areas of double-layer fabric.

4. A textile article of claim 1 wherein the double-layer fabric portion of the composite strips constitutes not over 50% of the width of the tubular fabric portion.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 58,035 9/ 1866 Kottgen 139-389 264,526 9/ 1882 Grauwiler 139-389 328,379 10/ 1885 Bray 139-3 89 358,265 2/1887 Hardenbrook 139-3 89 570,174 10/ 1896 Knight 139-3 89 691,459 1/ 1902 Fittz 139-3 89 1,612,022 12/1926 Howarth 139-389 2,259,274 10/ 1941 Stohlman 139-389 2,511,644 6/1950 Liss 139-419 3,286,739 11/1966 Itakura 139-389 FOREIGN PATENTS 4,642 1879 Great Britain. 17,571 1915 Great Britain. 52 1,5 97 5/ 1940 Great Britain. 296,353 2/ 1917 Germany.

MERVIN STEIN, Primary Examiner.

J. KEE CHI, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A TEXTILE ARTICLE COMPRISING TUBULAR FABRIC PORTIONS ALTERNATELY SEPARATED ALONG THE WARP DIRECTION BY: (A) STRIPS PARALLEL TO THE WEFT DIRECTION, SAID STRIPS CONSISTING OF SINGLE-LAYER FABRIC FORMED BY BRINGING TOGETHER AND COMBINING IN PARIS WVERY FRONT WARP END WITH A MATCHING BACK WARP END OF THE TUBULAR FABRIC PORTION AND WEAVING THE RESULTANT PAIR OF ENDS AS ONE; AND (B) COMPOSITE STRIPS PARALLEL TO THE WEFT DIRECTION, EACH OF SAID COMPOSITE STRIPS COMPRISING AT LEAST TWO SINGLE-LAYER FABRIC PORTIONS AND ONE DOUBLE-LAYER FABRIC PORTION, SAID (A) STRIPS AND SAID (B) STRIPS BEING SO DISPOSED THAT THE RATIO OF THE LENGTH ALONG THE WARP OF EACH TUBULAR FABRIC PORTION OT THE WIDTH ALONG THE WEFT OF SAID PORTION IS BETWEN 1.4 AND 2.2, AND THE RATIO OF THE RECTILINEAR SURFACE OF ANY TUBULAR FABRIC PORTION TO THE CONTAINABLE VOLUME THEREOF IS BETWEEN 2.3 AND 2.6 RECIPROCAL FEET; AND EACH SAID STRIP (A) AND (B) SPANS THE WEFT OF EACH TUBULAR FABRIC PORTION, EACH COMPOSITE STRIP CONSISTING OF AT LEAST ON COMPOSITE SEGMENT SPANNING THE WEFT OF ONE SAID TUBULAR FABRIC PORTION, EACH SUCH SEGMENT OF A COMPOSITE STRIP CONSISTING OF ONE SINGLELAYER FABRIC PORTION AT EACH END THEREOF AND ONE DOUBLE-LAYER FABRIC PORTION CENTRALLY THEREOF FORMING UPON SEVERANCE ALONG SUCH STRIPS A SACK WITH A MOUTH AT THE CENTER OF A NARROWER EDGE OR TOP OF THE SACK; SAID FABRIC BEING WOVEN FROM CONTINUOUS FILAMENT SYNTHETIC YARN AND HAVING A TRAPZEOIDAL TEAR STRENGTH ACROSS THE WARP DIRECTION OF AT LEAST 190 POUNDS AND ONE-INCH GRAB STRENGHT IN THE WARP DIRECTION OF AT LEAST 450 POUNDS; EACH SUCH TUBULAR FABRIC PORTION OF SAID ARTICLE HAVING CAPACITY FOR AT LEAST 80 POUNDS OF MOIST SAND. 